ShareThisLast year, it was the Big Three.
They were the ones that carried the Boston Celtics to their first world championship in 22 years. They were the focal point, the three glamour players who were this generation's version of Bird, McHale and Parish. They not only changed the culture of the Celtics, but they brought the Celtics back in our hearts and minds.
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
A new Big Three for a new era.
But guess what?
It's no longer just the Big Three.
Not with the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins.
Now it's the Big Three, plus two. Or the Big Five. Or any other brand you can come up with.
Or maybe it's just the Celtics.
Once upon a time, Perkins was essentially viewed as little more than a career backup center, a big body without a lot skills and questionable athleticism. He first came to the Celtics in 2003 out of a Texas high school, and via a trade by Memphis, who had taken him with the 27th pick in the draft.
And it was his fate to not only be on a bad team, but to be overshadowed by Al Jefferson, another former high school kid. Perkins was overweight then, not in the best of shape and a little undersized. In the parlance of the game, he was a project.
In short, he didn't figure to be a starter on the best team in basketball. Instead, he figured to be just another high school kid who could have benefited by playing some college basketball, one of those big kids who was so unfinished -- in the league because of his body, not his ability.
There's little question that Perkins benefited last year from the acquisition of Garnett, a multi-skilled superstar who took pressure off Perkins. He wasn't being asked to be great. He was being asked to bang inside and be a basketball version of a garbage man. And as the year went along, he seemed to grow into the role.
Now?
Now he's better than that.
Whether it's more confidence, more experience, in better shape, or something else, he's playing the best basketball of his life. He's tough. He's learned to keep the ball up. More importantly, he's learned he can make a very sweet living staying within five feet of the basket.
Then there's Rondo.
For we are watching a star in the making in Rondo, this young guard who is exploding in his third season to become a huge part of this Celtics team in ways he never was last year. Sunday night against the Knicks, he had 18 points in third quarter alone, on his way to 26 for the game. Friday night he had 15 assists against the Bulls. Earlier in the month, he had an impressive triple-double 16 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists in a win over Indiana.
But it's more than just the stats or the fact that no one ever expected Rondo to become this good when he left Kentucky early for the NBA, picked 21st in the draft by Phoenix, then traded to the Celtics. Back when he was uniformly seen as an undersized guard who couldn't shoot, quick and athletic certainly, but in no way considered a sure thing to ever do anything significant in the NBA.
It's the fact that Rondo is playing like one of the NBA's best point guards, not just a young player with a big future. Last year he had his moments, certainly, but he was an afterthought to the Big Three, as though they were the headliners and he was simply the opening act.
Not now.
Now Rondo is an integral part of the team. He brings great quickness and athleticism. He also brings the rare ability to get to where he wants to go on the court. Most players cannot do this, even many of the so-called great ones.
Rondo can.
It's his ability to go by people and get into the lane that's the fulcrum his game springs from.
The only real flaw, certainly, the sense that you wouldn't want your life to be determined by Rondo's ability to knock down two jumpers in a row. That, and an overall lack of experience. His shooting is his Achilles' heel, but it's already better than his rookie year and figures only to get better.
But it's his emergence as a great passer that's beginning to elevate his game to a place where only the great point guards live.
Overstated?
Maybe.
But I suspect it won't be for long.
Rondo's passing is a gift that keeps getting more refined, one that's growing in front of our eyes.
And it's one of the reasons why this team is better than it was a year ago, only one win away from the most consecutive wins in franchise history, this team that's seen Perkins get better and Rondo on the precipice of stardom, and now is in the process of chasing NBA history as well as another title.
For it's not just about the Big Three.
Not anymore.
(Contact Bill Reynolds at breynold@projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Providence Journal
